A Wilted Leaf In A Pocket: A Writing Challenge
And the Challenge Is?
My dear friend Ann on HP issued a challenge, one kind of spurred on by a comment I made, so I really feel an obligation to take part. Here is her challenge:
“Choose the most boring object or subject you can think of and write an engaging, entertaining, fascinating hub about it. You can make your own choice or write about one of the following:
- watching paint dry
- a blank floorboard
- monotonous music
- airport runway
- lying ill in bed with bandages on your eyes and no music
- a wilted leaf in a pocket
I’m sure you can think of something even more mundane. Just make sure you write about that subject as the core, not merely include it in passing.”
Seems innocent enough, right?
Let’s see if it is!
The Wilted Leaf
From water comes life!
The truth of that statement is all around us, walking on two legs, galloping on four, crawling, creeping, slithering, swimming, flying and sprouting, water is life and, in a very real sense, life is water.
Fleeting thoughts as I felt the textures of the wilted leaf in my pocket; snipped from its source of water it quickly withered and died, the vibrancy gone. A silly leaf, one of a multitude of billions, but this leaf is my lifeline and my anchor to sanity.
AT FIRST
She had wild blond hair when I first met her, forty years ago, curls exploding from that mop of yellow-white, reminding me of a thousand yellow butterflies erupting from their chrysalis all at the same time. It was September of Seventy-six, the start of fifth grade, Sunset Elementary, Seattle, Washington. Her family had just moved to the area from Chicago, her dad some bigwig at Boeing, and she was Claire, Claire Sebastian, two first names, how cool is that, and she walked into the lunchroom that day, all confident and acting like she belonged there, sat down next to me and said, “I’m Claire and we’re going to be friends.”
I was pretty popular in those days, a big fish in a little pond, and I remember thinking this new girl needed to learn her place, needed to act a little shy at first, at the very least, and work her way up the Sunset ladder slowly, but that just wasn’t her way, and before long I was looking forward to lunch and hoping she’d sit next to me, and not long after that I was detouring on the way home after school to walk past her home, and then all pretense gone and I’d walk her home, and September turned into October and the leaves changed . . .
AND ONE OCTOBER
And it was the October of our freshman year at Roosevelt High School that Claire Sebastian woke me up one Saturday morning and invited me to accompany her to the park for a picnic, that’s the way she talked, accompany her, and I said yes, and we did among the changing leaves, their golds and purples, their browns and yellows, all providing the perfect setting as we sat on the park bench and she told me “I’m Claire and we’re going to be married one day.” And I’m thinking I’m just a bit too young to be thinking about marriage and all, but looking in Claire’s eyes I saw conviction and determination, and her smile well, it melted my heart, and what’s a guy supposed to say at that moment?
Well Claire wasn’t one to wait for responses, the words, at times, just exploding from her, so while we sat on that bench she reached out and held my hand, and smiled at me, and damned if I forgot all about being too young and I said “sounds good to me,” and then, I don’t know where the courage came from, I kissed her. And leaves have never looked so vibrant, falling all around us, some sticking to that curly mop of hair, and we smiled at the thought of our future.
And Every October Afterwards
And every October, through high school, and college, we would take Saturday walks, and she would gather the “prettiest of the prettiest” leaves and show them to me, and she explained “these are our leaves, and their color is spectacular because we love each other,” and her words seemed true to me, truer than any words ever spoken, and I loved her for seeing that.
And it was an October morning, on one of those walks twenty-five years ago, that I asked her to marry me, and she pulled me down into a pile of leaves and we laughed and cried, kissed and promised a future of love, and we both kept that promise, through job-changes and childbirths, three total, and sickness and health, good times and bad, every single day a magical journey with Claire leading the way, making dreams come true.
The wild blond curls turned gray, matching mine in color, but that smile never failed to deliver on that promise made so long ago, a promise of outstanding adventures and, as she called it, controlled craziness, crazy in love, she said, and she would hug me, snuggle next to me, give me real strength to replace the false bravado, and her smile was my anchor.
The Last October Walk
And she was still smiling that October morning, six months ago, when she told me about the doctor’s appointment, the tests, the results, the irrefutable conclusions, and she made me promise to always take those October walks, that she would be with me always, and hush now, darling, no tears, and wasn’t it just the sweetest love affair ever, she asked? And I cried then, big man, unashamed, the cruel reality of it all crashing down on me, and she hushed me again and told me love never dies, remember that, she said, that leaves may wilt and lose their color in the winter, but with spring comes new leaves and a new burst of color, just look at our children as the years progress, and you’ll see me.
So the Walks Continue
Every October you’ll find me now, walking among the leaves, picking some up, choosing the most beautiful, and putting it in my pocket, whispering her name, Claire Sebastian, that wild mop of golden hair, that wild mop of golden girl, taking me on a journey of love, changing my life, helping me to see the wonders of life, her smile always with me.
And I smile, as she smiled, and I thank the gods for that lunch period in 5th Grade, many years ago, when I learned my first lesson about love.
2016 William D. Holland (aka billybuc)
THERE YOU GO, ANN!
A promise is a promise, and I’ve delivered. I hope you enjoyed it and I thank you for the challenge and inspiration.
Related
Writing on HubPages: 6 Years of Hubbing; Advantages, Progress, Community and a Writing Challenge
Short Story Photo Prompt: Thoughts of a Little Girl - My Response to My Own Writing Challenge!
A Writing Challenge
The Woman on the Mountaintop (a Writing Challenge by Bill Holland)
The Rest of My Life: A Short Story Response to a Creative Writing Challenge Issued by Billybuc on HubPages
Comments
- AUTHOR
Thank you very much, Lawrence!
bill
Bill
Sad, but beautiful. Really touched the heart.
Lawrence
- AUTHOR
PS, thank you so much for reading my eternal love story. It means a lot to me that you took the time to do so.
Hugs heading your way, sprinkled with prayers and love.
O my...and so it is....the changing of the seasons, the turning of the pages on the calendar, and time slips away. In my mind's eye I still am that young woman carefree and unafraid of whatever may come...unafraid to fall in love (although my love did not last so long as Claire's)....
Beautifully composed and delivered....always a joy to stop and read.
Angels once again are surrounding you, bill. ps
- AUTHOR
That's sweet of you to say, Sha! Thank you very much.
It's in your aura, Bill. Bev knows how much you love her. Your heart speaks through the boundaries of your skin and your words. Some people sweat. You exude.
- AUTHOR
Thank you so much, Sha! I, oddly, have a hard time showing love in person, but in my words it is always there.
I'll never look at a wilted leaf the same again, Bill. And that's a good thing!
Love never dies, it just goes through a metamorphosis as time goes on. Each stage more beautiful than the last - when it's true.
I love this story, Bill. The love in your heart comes spilling forth in everything you do.
- AUTHOR
Thank you so much, Rasma!
A most wonderful story.
- AUTHOR
Thank you very much, DDE!
Beautiful and interesting!
- AUTHOR
MIssy, it takes beauty to recognize beauty. I really believe that, my friend. :) Thank you!
I cried at the beauty in this one. Your stories are always full of beauty and meaning. Even when they don't seem to have a happy ever after ending, they actually do. If that makes sense? Through the sad comes a beauty that could have never been found without Claire Sebastian. :) Loved it!
- AUTHOR
It's not that I don't want to be known as the love guy; it's that I don't think I could sustain it through an entire book. Oddly enough, I don't "feel it" with this genre. But I will give it some thought, Faith. I promise.
- AUTHOR
Thank you Faith! One day maybe I'll have as much confidence in my writing as you have. :) Blessings on this foggy Sunday.
Meant ...could go the traditional route.
If you don't want to be known as the love guy, then you could write these under a pen name : )
That's what I'm saying too, Bill ...as Flourish noted, this writing here is much better than the "known" and "making millions" authors of those type books. Being you obviously have the gift, why not tap into that market and then become a "known" author!
I love all of your writing too, but just pointing out the obvious ...'cause we love you. You good even go the traditional route.
Hugs
- AUTHOR
Aww, thanks for adding that, Kathleen. For Bev and I, it was our second marriage, and we both needed to dig through a whole bunch of past garbage and learn to trust again. :)
bb: The main reason it took us so long to marry is that we met junior year of high school, Don went to West Point (where cadets are not allowed to be married), and I worked my way through college so it took me a year longer to graduate. I wanted to be a college graduate on my wedding day (since I'd missed out on other bridal virtues. But that tidbit starts a whole other conversation!)
- AUTHOR
Maria, that is very kind of you. Thank you so much, dear friend.
love,
bill
- AUTHOR
Flourish, my goodness, you're making me blush. Thank you very much. I'll take your suggestion under advisement.
- AUTHOR
Thank you so much, Ann, for the challenge and the kind remarks. I loved writing this, so you really were doing me a favor. :)
Have a superb Saturday, my friend.
You taught us to write what we know about...
...and you, dear Bill, know a lot about love. What a heart wrenching and beautiful love story - a winner to me!
Love, Maria
Bill - I TOTALLY AGREE with Faith Reaper. As much as your other writing is lovely, I've always thought you belonged writing Nicholas Sparks type books. (What you've written here is so much better than him.) If you channel the wonder that you have for Bev into words as you seem to have done here, you're a best-seller, hands down, my friend. No more unknown author.
Superb, bill! Beautiful and sad. You had me crying, I confess.
Thank you so much for stepping up to my challenge, especially with such a poignant story. So much comes from just one dry crinkled leaf!
You are a master storyteller - but you know that!
Have a Fantastic Friday, bill!
Ann
PS - sorry I'm late in acknowledging this - you know why!
- AUTHOR
Thank you very much, appsforsys
- AUTHOR
And Shyron, you always hit it out of the park with your clever and creative comments. Thank you so much and blessings to you, and yours, always.
- AUTHOR
Thank you Suzette. I'm not sure what it says about me, that this type of writing is harder for me to do than the dark. LOL
Bill, you always know how to touch the heart and pull the strings that make it beat a little faster, cause when you write a story I find it hard to believe that the story is not real, that somewhere this story really happened.
You hit this one out of the park,
Through the leaves and into the air
Like the startling of a lark
And makes me wish that I were there
Blessings my friend.
Lovely, heartwarming story! Glad to read a story of yours that is not dark. It clutched my heart when reading this.
- AUTHOR
Aw, Peg, that's music to my ears. Thank you so much. Go get some tissue and dry those eyes. Friday is waiting for you. :)
- AUTHOR
Kathleen, that's interesting. It took Bev and I about seven years to finally marry. I just hadn't grown up enough and it took me some time.
Thank you for your very kind words.
- AUTHOR
Faith, you and Flourish are just romantics at heart.....and I think that's very cool. Thank you dear friend. I don't see myself as a romance novelist, but your words are nice to hear.
blessings and hugs coming your way
- AUTHOR
Gosh, Flourish, after all these articles, I made the pinnacle in your eyes. :) I really appreciate those kind words, my friend.
- AUTHOR
Aw, thanks Vellur. I hope your heart mends soon. :)
- AUTHOR
Thank you so much, Blossom! I really appreciate that.
You definitely turned that challenge into a masterpiece, Bill. What a fantastic gathering of emotions your words evoke, from smug recognition of that certain overconfident youngster to love worn and cherished partner. The tears welled up in my eyes and I sped through the rest of the story to keep from becoming a blubbering mess this early in the morning. But, alas! Tears have a will of their own sometimes. Great story!
bb: I loved your story/testimony about you and the love of your life. I met mine in high school too, not quite as young as you. And it took us seven years to get enough of a foothold on our lives to marry and begin a life together.
This is a great challenge and you've (as usual) set the bar very high!
Ohhh, this is spectacular, Bill! I love, love, love it. It's actually my favorite of all that I've read of what you have written. You should consider writing more love stories ...they are bestsellers, just saying. I love the pace of the writing in this one.
Ann should be thrilled.
Peace and blessings
Bill, this is the best thing I've read if yours. Pure poetry.
A beautiful story of love, sad but still the walk always continues in her memory. Broke my heart, well penned.
Such a beautiful, touching story - and great images, too.
- AUTHOR
Thanks Manatita. Jodah and I were independent and yet very close to each other...strange how that happens.
- AUTHOR
I really can, Ruby, and it means a great deal to me. Thank you dear friend.
I haven't cried today, until now. You have a way of touching my heart with your writing. Your talent has no boundaries! Can you tell that I loved your story?
Wonderful offering Bill. Closer to Jodah's approach, as I went for the educational and informative, literally using the theme given.
That touch of love always add or enhance the emotions of a story, and you do this very well indeed! Nice response.
- AUTHOR
Thank you so much, Marlene! I always appreciate you visiting and commenting.
Very lovely and intense, just like the leaves as they change color. They are beautiful no matter what color they are. Love lasts forever, no matter if the person is or is not with us.
- AUTHOR
Thanks Irish! It's always great having you visit. Say hi to the Mickster for me.
- AUTHOR
Aw, thank you Emese. I'm so glad you enjoyed my little story of love.
- AUTHOR
Thank you Linda. I really enjoyed writing this one.
What a beautiful story Bill showing us how to take something simple and bring it to life! Great challenge Ann congrats to you both!
Beautiful love story. Only a great writer can weave a story like this from the image of a wilted leaf. Thank you for a good read (and tears).
- AUTHOR
Thank you Norlawrence. Sorry about the sadness, but thank you.
- AUTHOR
I really appreciate that, Venkatachari M. Thank you sir!
- AUTHOR
Rodric, thank you for the very kind words. It makes me happy that I inspired you, and thank you for sharing my little story of love.
- AUTHOR
Thank you very much, Barbara Kay!
- AUTHOR
Thank you, Eric. I doubt it took much to stir up that heart of yours.
Oh Bill, this is so sweet, and sad, and beautiful. Leaves wither and fade and die, but love never does.
Great article as usual. So sad. Pictures were beautiful. Thanks
A beautiful story but with a sad ending, making us cry. Enjoyed a lot.
This was excellent! I figured it would be a sad story by the title, but not that it would be a love story too. You are such a great writer. I may not comment each time I read, but I am going to do the challenge too. Again, you have inspired me. You inspired me to write a series of articles that I am working on and now I am doing another challenge. I owe you my muse!
I enjoy the way you used the leaf to represent the memory of Claire Sebastian or at least his love for her. You took a boring thing and added meaning. I am sharing this on social media of course.
I enjoyed your story. This is a beautiful time of year and the leaf was a good choice.
You just got me thinking about school starting in the fall. We would reunite with each other and either rekindle or start with fresh love. So fall to me has always been the romantic season. Thanks for stirring my heart up.
- AUTHOR
Well, Randi, you're running out of time for that trip to Chicago. If you go, have a spectacular trip.
- AUTHOR
I hope you do, Dora. Write in your own style with your own words. They will be more than good enough.
And thank you!
Thank you, Bill! I wish I could. I usually go to Chicago in October but I started a new job in September.
Sometines Words is the only thing I have the attention span for. Lol. I'm working on that!
Love, devotion and undying memory are all features in my favorite stories. Thanks, for sharing this beautiful read. I won't even try to imitate this, but I'm encouraged to try the challenge.
- AUTHOR
Larry, about the only time I use them these days is when a friend issues a challenge. For the most part I've never really needed prompts, so I understand. What I really don't understand is writer's block.
- AUTHOR
Thank you so much, Kristen. Every once in awhile, the romantic in me surfaces.
- AUTHOR
Thank you Randi. It's good to see you somewhere other than Words. LOL Fall is here for sure, bordering on an early winter. If you want changing leaves, comes on up. We'll save you some.
Great read.
I'll be honest. I understand the concept of prompts, but with rare exception I don't tend to gravitate to following them.
Bill, this was a moving and beautiful short story. Thanks for sharing. I loved the photos of the leaves to go with the autumn theme. Well done.
Great response to an interesting challenge! I read John's story yesrerday and was curious to see yours. Wilted leaves definitely bring out the romantic. And the sweetness. I am definitely missing gall this year and ylur story brpught out all the sweetness that it is and then some!
- AUTHOR
Thank you very much, Meg! I'm a romantic at heart, I guess. :)
What a beautiful, amazing story. Enjoyed it, even though the end was sad and yet, she helped him look forward.
- AUTHOR
"All the feels" I love that phrase, Janine, thank you! Happy Thursday sweet lady.
Aw, Bill you totally rose the challenge and this story had all the feels and than some! Happy Thursday now, my dear friend!! :)
- AUTHOR
Thank you John! I still find it interesting that you and I were on the same wavelength. I was in very good company.
What a beautiful and sad story Bill. Yes we certainly were on the same wave length. Great response to Ann's challenge, but I'd expect nothing less.
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